The New York Knicks shockingly parted ways with Tom Thibodeau as their head coach after five seasons at the helm. This news stunned the sports world just days after the Knicks lost in their first Eastern Conference Finals appearance since 1999.
Following Thibodeau’s exit, the Knicks reportedly reached out to multiple teams to seek their permission to speak to their incumbent coaches for the potential job in New York. Among these teams were the Mavericks, Rockets, Timberwolves, Hawks, and Bulls.
While the sports media was baffled to see the Knicks shooting in the dark about their future, Gilbert Arenas felt that he could see through the pretension of the Knicks and believed he had uncovered their ulterior motives behind such a shocking move.
“What [the Knicks] are doing is, you’re offering the job to people that already got jobs, knowing what their answer is. So you’re pretending for the world that you’re actually looking for a job, and then you’re going to ‘settle’ for Rick. ‘Aw man! We couldn’t find nobody, everybody rejected the job, we’re just gonna give it to Rick.’ Y’all slick— just go ahead and give Rick the job, man, I don’t think nobody is gonna mind.”
Some players might mind if the Knicks went ahead and did that. There were reports from sources that claimed some Knicks players are unhappy with his presence in the locker room as an assistant coach.
Rick Brunson, the father of Knicks star Jalen Brunson, played in the NBA from 1997 to 2006. In 2007, he began his coaching career as an assistant on the Nuggets and has ever since worked on several NBA teams in that position. If he were to get this job, it would be his first head coaching job in the NBA.
Who Are The Other Potential Coaches The Knicks Can Hire?
The top three candidates the Knicks should look at, in my opinion, are Mike Brown, Taylor Jenkins, and Mike Malone. Brown was the former head coach of the Kings, Jenkins held that position for the Grizzlies, and Malone won a championship as the head coach of the Nuggets. All three viable options for the Knicks as coaches who have NBA experience and are in the market for a new job.
One other unlikely candidate that the Knicks may look at is the former NBA player Metta World Peace, who had publicly vocalized his interest in taking up a coaching role in New York. Seeing JJ Redick get the head coaching position with the Lakers may have started a trend of former NBA players wanting to take up coaching roles more actively.
Whoever takes the reins in New York will have a strong playoff-contending team ready to go from the start. However, the key hole that the new coach will have to fill is building a dynamic offensive system for the team, which had gone stagnant under Thibodeau. In my opinion, Mike Malone will be the best fit to take up this position as he has the championship experience the Knicks need to take them over the precipice and end their 50-year+ drought.
